A Sandwich a Day: Crispy Branzino at Perla

In this great city of ours, one could eat a different sandwich every day of the year—so that's what we'll do. Here's A Sandwich a Day, our daily look at sandwiches around New York. Got a sandwich we should check out? Let us know.—The Mgmt.

[Photograph: Robyn Lee]

Not everything at Perla is deliciously, deliriously excessive. The pizza, for starters, and also this Crispy Branzino Sandwich ($16) on the Friday and weekend lunch menu. It has a higher price-to-absolute-fullness ratio than the other lunch and brunch items we've tried, but size isn't the reason this disappeared so quickly.

It's a fish sandwich we can really get behind, with a delicate crust (more a light flour dredge) and perfect supple flesh. A lemony mayo and some thin slices of pickled peppers brighten it just enough—a bit of creaminess, a bit of tart, a bit of spice—but it remains all about the fish. The sandwich is far more evocative of seaside fish shack eating than you'd expect from a classy restaurant on Minetta Lane, only helped by a heap of chili- and tomato-dusted fries that disappeared as quickly. It's a lighter lunch—if a whole fish filet is your idea of light—but a fish sandwich the West Village can be proud of.

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